


Wait for the Stars to Catch You

by DoctorMerlinReid



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, No Longer Bittersweet Ending, References to Drugs, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28704843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorMerlinReid/pseuds/DoctorMerlinReid
Summary: Sam’s heart was in his throat the moment he saw the thin figure on the top of the bridge, leaning ever so slightly over the edge. No, no, no. Tonight was supposed to be a good night. Tonight was not supposed to be the night he had to grab a jumper. Heart in his throat, Sam glided to a stop next to the person – a pale teenager from what Sam could tell. He made sure to make as much noise as possible as he came to a stop. He didn’t want to startle the kid into jumping accidentally. Sam would be able to catch him but he’d like to avoid that situation if at all possible.Or: Klaus was tired. Tired of the training and the disdain and the noise all the time. So, he decided he'd just stop.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz
Comments: 30
Kudos: 219





	1. Chapter 1

Sam sighed in relief as he swept away from the Tower, dipping over and through the skyscrapers of NYC. Don't get him wrong, he loved being an Avenger. The work was thrilling, the teammates were amazing (when they could get along), and the pay was unreal, but there came a point where he was spending too much time with the rest of the Avengers. They all practically lived in that Tower or on the road together on missions. He needed a break. He needed _several_ breaks.

Besides, who could say no to flying, especially at night? Just you and the wind. No matter how many times he did this, Sam would never be able to let it go. He'd thought he could after the military program dissolved and Riley… Riley didn't make it, but he'd been lying to himself. The moment he put those wings on to help Steve, his love for them came rushing back. He'd never give these up again. Never.

Eyes slipping mostly closed in bliss, Sam fell into a small barrel roll, laughing as he came out of it. Yeah, this was the life. Was this how pilots felt? They were paid to fly. What a life.

Of course, Sam wished he had a little bit more time to work with the veteran's program he'd been running before, but he was still being a hero. Just, a little more hands-on than before. And he still made it back there sometimes. He ran as many sessions as he could and when he couldn't make it there, he practiced his skills on his teammates (with varying success – he'd only tried on Natasha once and had instantly regretted that decision).

Sam blinked and swung out of the way of an oncoming building. He should probably pay more attention to his surroundings instead of getting lost in the past. Eyes sharpening in concentration, Sam tilted himself towards the water, intending to glide as close to the water as he dared, maybe kick some up towards him for fun.

A small, lonely figure made him change course.

Sam's heart was in his throat the moment he saw the thin figure on the top of the bridge, leaning ever so slightly over the edge. No, no, no. Tonight was supposed to be a good night. Tonight was not supposed to be the night he had to grab a jumper. Heart in his throat, Sam glided to a stop next to the person – a pale teenager from what Sam could tell. He made sure to make as much noise as possible as he came to a stop. He didn't want to startle the kid into jumping accidentally. Sam would be able to catch him but he'd like to avoid that situation if at all possible.

It didn't seem to matter because the kid didn't even look over at him when he landed. The kid was arguing with thin air, voice slurred and reedy, "- shouldn't I? It'll be fun! Like parachuting! Or, uh, I haven't gone parachuting, have I? Oh! No, we went on that one mission, remember? Ah, Nevada. What an awful place."

Sam cleared his throat, "I don't know, I've got some friends from Nevada. And you can't say no to Vegas when you've got some cash to spare."

The kid swung his head over towards him and Sam had to hold in a curse. The kid was clearly high, eyes unfocused and bloodshot. He was unnaturally pale with smeared eyeliner and a smudge of dark eyeshadow trailing up towards his brow ridges. There was a little tilt to his lips that spoke of sardonic humor. Sam's jaw clenched when he looked the kid over further and saw that he was barefoot, wearing nothing but a tight leather skirt and a black sequined crop top. He had to be _freezing_. There were tattoos all over the kid's arms. He didn't get a good look at them before the kid waved on hand at Sam, the word 'Hello' scrawled across the palm, "Well _hello_ there, sir. How are you this fine evening?"

Sam swallowed away his nerves, giving the kid as charming of a smile as he could manage, "Pretty good. Probably warmer than you."

The kid laughed, high and breathy, "Don't worry, don't worry. I can take the cold."

"You sure?" Sam asked, "I've got an emergency blanket in one of these pockets."

"I'm sure," the kid smiled vaguely. His eyes darted to the side, towards the spot of air he'd been arguing with earlier. Sam winced. He wasn't sure what to do if this kid was schizophrenic.

Sam slowly bent his knees, settling down on the ground with his back against a metal pole. He patted the spot next to him, "Why don't you sit with me for a while? Tell me why you're up here all alone?"

The kid smiled bitterly, muttering to himself, "Oh, I'm never alone." He sat down, though, which was all that mattered. The way he'd been leaning over the edge made Sam nervous, wings or not.

When the silence stretched between them for a beat too long, Sam sent the kid another smile and asked as casually as he could manage, "So? What brought you here tonight?"

The kid sent him back a vague, dopey smile, "The view, of course."

Sam resisted the urge to sigh, "Of course. You could get this view from other places, though. Safer places. Ones that are probably easier to get to as well."

The kid shrugged one bony shoulder, "Ben likes high places."

Ben? Was he talking in the third person? Carefully, Sam asked, "Is that your name?"

"No, it's my brother's name," the kid answered. He scowled at the air next to him, "Alright, alright!" He looked back at Sam, "My name's Klaus. Nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand and everything.

Sam smiled back, charmed despite himself, "Nice to meet you too, Klaus. I'm Sam."

Klaus hummed vaguely to himself, "Sam Wilson, right? The Falcon?"

"That's right. I'm an Avenger," Sam answered. Maybe Klaus was a fan? He hadn't seemed too excited when he said the name. Then again, he was clearly high enough that he wasn't thinking straight.

Klaus's eyes flickered to that spot again, "Do you like working with the Avengers?"

"Sure," Sam answered easily, "I love it, actually. I'm doing a lot of good work. Saving a lot of good people. The rest of the Avengers make it fun, too. They're good people. I enjoy working with them. Why? Looking to go into heroics, kid?" He'd meant the question to be teasing, but the disconnected smile that Klaus had been wearing through the whole interaction slipped off his face at Sam's question. He wanted to curse. What had he done to set that off?

Klaus shook his head slowly, "No, I don't think I am." He paused for a moment, letting that sink in, before he asked, "Do you ever think about the people you kill?"

Sam winced. Yeah, yeah, he thought about it a lot. More than he should probably. Of course, his thoughts normally strayed towards the people who died because he failed to save them. In his mind, he might as well have killed them. He _knew_ it wasn't his fault, knew that it was irrational and hurtful to think that way, but he couldn't quite stop himself from thinking it sometimes. He swallowed around the emotions rising in his throat and answered slowly, "Sometimes. That's only natural. But I know that I was protecting people or protecting myself when I killed. It was self-defense."

"They wouldn't think that," Klaus muttered.

Sam frowned, "No, probably not. But they're also hurting people so they don't really have room to talk."

The kid seemed to ignore him, muttering more to the thin air next to him, "What? They do! They always blame people for stuff like that. If he could see them, he wouldn't think that. I – I know. I _know_ …" He trailed off, head tilted towards that spot again, looking for all the world like he was listening to something. After a moment, he shook his head like a dog, springing to his feet fast enough that Sam almost didn't have a chance to mirror the action before Klaus took a huge step off the bridge.

Sam cursed, loudly and emphatically, as he wrapped an arm around Klaus's (too skinny) waist and dragged him back onto the relative safety of the bridge. Klaus sighed, stick-thin body slumping in Sam's grip, "Yeah, figured that wouldn't work."

"What was _that_?" Sam asked sharply, regretting his tone almost as soon as the words left his mouth.

Klaus plopped back down onto the metal shelf and let his head fall against the metal pole behind them. He didn't answer, choosing instead to just shrug and look up at what few stars were visible in the sky.

Sam blew out a shaky breath and sat back down next to him, keeping a much warier eye on the teenager. He did _not_ want a repeat of that. He'd nearly had a heart attack. He almost hadn't been quick enough to catch him. Rubbing a hand over the back of his neck, Sam gentled his tone and asked, "Why are you doing this, Klaus? Please give me a real answer this time."

Klaus looked at the air next to him before staring over at Sam. Sam had to stop himself from shivering. The kid looked like a bedraggled pole playing at being a hooker. It should have looked ridiculous. Instead, there was something deep in Klaus's eyes that made Sam's breath catch in his throat. It was ancient, waiting. That wasn't the look of a street kid who had seen too much, although there was a hint of that in the corners of his eyes as well. No, there was something in the kid's eyes that spoke of a darkness deeper than the soul, a curse heavier than Atlas's burden. Sam's stayed perfectly still, feeling somewhat like a deer caught in the headlights of an approaching car.

He only relaxed when Klaus looked back over the water again. He spoke after a second, words slightly less slurred than they'd been at the beginning of the conversation, "Why not? No one's going to miss me. Honestly, the family will probably be glad. No more annoying Klaus bothering them. No more Klaus stealing his sisters' clothing. No more Klaus pawning their dad's stuff to buy more drugs. No more smell of joints and alcohol at dinner. Besides, at least it'll be quiet once I die."

"Klaus," Sam started, already tensing in preparation in case Klaus decided to jump again, "I'm going to ask a question and I swear it's not meant to be insulting, okay? But I have to ask: are you schizophrenic?"

Klaus laughed, a hysterical edge to it that made Sam's shoulders tense, "Schizophrenic? Maybe I am! Ben, did you ever think about that? I could just be schizophrenic! This could all be one bad trip! How about that? You'd be a hallucination, then. Well, that's what a hallucination would say." He was looking back over at that spot of empty air again, eyes wide and manic.

Sam didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't made the connection, but as it was, several things fell into place at once. Klaus had said that his brother was named Ben. Klaus also had a tattoo on his arm of an umbrella inside of a circle. That image was the symbol of the Umbrella Academy, a group that had caused a whole lot of dissension among the Avengers. One of the Umbrella Academy members could see the dead. There was at least one dead member of the Umbrella Academy. So, instead of flying Klaus to the nearest insane asylum, Sam let out a shaky breath and practically whispered, "You're the Séance."

Klaus's shoulders came up around his shoulders at Sam's words, his jaw clenching, "Yeah."

"That's what you meant when you said that you'd never be alone. What you meant when you said that you just wanted it to be quiet. And that person you're talking to, that's your brother Ben. He was the Horror, right?" Sam asked, several realizations rushing through him at once.

He'd never thought much about what the Séance's powers entailed. The kid could see dead people. Big whoop. He hadn't considered the ramifications of that. From the rough appearance of the kid in front of him, Sam was willing to bet that those powers weren't as simple and innocent as they might have sounded previously.

Klaus stared at him, that terribly ancient look in his eyes again. Sam swallowed and tried again, gentler and more understanding this time, "The ghosts might be bad but I really don't think this is the answer."

"Shut up, Ben," Klaus hissed at the air – no, the ghost – next to him. When Sam raised an eyebrow inquiringly, Klaus rolled his eyes and waved his hand, "Ben was just complaining about something that can't be changed anyway."

"And what's that?" Sam pressed.

Klaus looked at him from the corner of his eye for a long moment before he gave in, "Oh, alright. If you insist! Ben was just complaining about our tragic backstory. Sold to a billionaire at birth. Weird powers. A ranking system instead of names. Training every moment of every day. Silent dinners. Robot mom. The _bad_ training. Evil father. Disinterested siblings. Life on the streets. Drugs, alcohol, prostitution! The whole tired shebang."

"There's a whole lot of things on that list I want to address," Sam admitted. He could see Klaus tensing up again, though, and figured that the only way he was going to get something out of the kid was to go with humor first, "Starting with the robot mom."

Klaus let out a delighted little laugh. It was the nicest laugh he'd given in the time they'd been sitting there, light and airy like delicate bells. Sam smiled at the sound. Klaus gave a tentative smile back, "Yeah, the nannies didn't work out so well. We were all little kids born with our powers and we, uh, weren't so great at control back then. So, dad decided that building a super strong robot with incredibly advanced AI capabilities was the best bet. Once she stuck around for long enough, we kind of adopted her as our mom." He paused for a moment before admitting shyly, "I think she actually loves us. I know that's not part of her programming because there's no way dad even knows enough about love to program it, but I think she – she evolved or something to be able to care about us. I know it sounds stupid."

"It doesn't," Sam interjected confidently, "You're talking to a guy who lives part time with Tony Stark. You cannot convince me that that man's AI's aren't alive. His little robot buddies, too. I'm pretty sure they're all his actual children." Sam still remembered JARVIS from the few times he met him. Sam hadn't been around that often back then, but JARVIS had made an impression on him during those brief times. The AI was sentient. You could fight Sam on that. And the way Tony cried at JARVIS's death said a whole lot about the sentience, too, but Sam didn't want to think about that ever again.

Klaus gave a small little unsure smile, "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Sam said warmly, trying to force the thoughts of JARVIS's death away by remembering some of FRIDAY's snarkier moments. He shook his head and chuckled, "Alright, what's next? What all are your powers? You can see ghosts? How does that work?"

Klaus shrugged, glancing over at Ben again, "Nothing special. The ghosts are loud and mean and ugly – they look just like they looked when they died. Not the prettiest of sights. Then again, none of them can compare to _my_ prettiness!" It was a weak joke, but Sam cracked a smile just to get Klaus to relax a little more. It worked and Klaus sounded a little more animated when he continued, "There's a lot of blood and gore and all that nasty stuff. And they really like hanging around me. I guess they can tell that I can see them or whatever because they're _always_ moaning at me – Klaus this and Klaus that and help me and I'll kill you and all sorts of nasty threats. Did you know I learned _all_ of my swear words from ghosts? I guess being dead, there's nothing better to do than get creative with your insults." Klaus shrugged again, some of the forced cheerfulness slipping from his voice, "The drugs make them _alllllll_ go away, though! Except for Benny Boy, of course. He sticks around. How sweet!" Klaus made little pinching motions at Ben.

Sam forced him to laugh past the horror at what he'd heard, "You're pretty loyal, Ben. How do your powers work then?" Sam was almost too caught up on the thought of all the awful things the murderers and murdered that surrounded Klaus could say to him when he was just a young, scared thing to notice the way Klaus's jaw dropped in surprise. Sam dragged his attention back to Klaus, "What?"

"You – were you talking to _Ben_?" Klaus asked incredulously.

Sam frowned, "He is over there, right? That's where you had been looking when you were talking to him, so I just assumed."

"No, no, he's over there. I just – you believe me?" Klaus asked, eyes incredibly wide in his thin face.

Sam nodded slowly, "Of course I believe you. I'm pretty sure most of the country knows that the Séance can see ghosts."

"No, I mean, about Ben. You believe me about Ben. You believe that I can still see him even though I'm high," Klaus clarified. There was a faint, flickering hope in the back of his eyes. Sam hadn't even noticed it was missing until it flickered to life.

Sam smiled reassuringly, "Of course I do, kid. Now, what'd he say about his powers?"

Klaus exchanged what was probably supposed to be a discrete look of awe with Ben before he turned back to Sam to translate, "Ben says that he's got a portal to another dimension in his stomach where the tentacles of eldritch monsters come out of."

"That's… different," Sam said slowly.

"It's a hot mess," Klaus added cheerfully. He grinned over at Ben, "Ben says that it's a challenge but not one that he has as much of an issue with now that he's dead. He can still feel Them in there, though."

"Interesting," Sam settled on, not quite sure what to say in response to that. He was kind of glad that the powers of the Avengers weren't that odd. Then again, Vision and Wanda weren't exactly _normal_. Sam internally shook his head and focused back on the conversation, "How about your father? What's the situation there?" The smile dropped off of Klaus's face again and he mulishly looked in the other direction. Sam's own slight smile dropped off as he leaned forward earnestly, "Klaus, you can tell me. If you do, I can get you some help. I promise. The Avengers have power. We can bring an investigation in on your dad if he's mistreating you. Especially since he's claiming you all as a superhero team as well. As the _oldest_ superhero team despite the fact that you're all a whole lot younger than we are. You know, we could probably get an inquiry just on child endangerment."

"No," Klaus sighed, leaning his head back against the pole again, "There's no point. Dad's too rich."

"Tony's pretty rich too, kid," Sam tried.

Klaus shook his head, "Not like dad. Daddy dearest has connections everywhere, as high as he can get them. You won't be able to do anything. We've tried reporting him before. It never goes anywhere and only makes things worse. Besides, we're all almost 18 at this point. Ben's dead. Five is missing. Allison's practically moved out already with all of the movies she does. I know Vanya's got a scholarship to a really cool music school and Diego's scraped together what he needs to join the police academy. We're mostly out the door already. No use making our last year even more miserable."

"What about you?" Sam asked softly.

Klaus gave him a lopsided grin, "Why, I've got the streets. They call my name, you know? Besides, where else would I get all the drugs I need to keep things quiet and peaceful?"

Sam frowned, "Don't hit the streets. _Please,_ Klaus. The Avengers can help you. We've got resources. We're working on training Scarlet Witch's powers as well. We can help train yours as well. You wouldn't need to do any Avengers work. We can just help you train."

Klaus snorted, "Training to handle the dead while surrounded by two assassins, two former soldiers, the _Hulk_ , and the rest of the assorted menagerie? Yeah, that sounds like a great idea."

"I can't imagine it's much better back at your house," Sam pointed out, thinking about the normal death tolls of the Umbrella Academy missions. He'd been appalled when he found out that small children had been wracking up death tolls like that.

Klaus gave him a small grin, "Hence the streets." Sam opened his mouth to say something, to say _anything_ to let Klaus let them help him, but Klaus beat him to it, "Thanks but no thanks, man. Ben says thanks also, by the way. Partially for acknowledging him and partially for listening and partially for talking me down."

"Are you talked down?" Sam asked carefully, "I'm not leaving you up here, you know? I'm not leaving you anywhere without a responsible adult, actually. No offense kid, but you don't really seem to be in the right headspace to be alone right now."

Klaus sighed, "I guess I better start going home, then."

"You don't have to," Sam offered one more time, "You can crash at my place for tonight. We'd figure everything out in the morning when we were less tired and you were less high and we weren't very, very high up."

For a long moment, the two of them stared at each other. Sam wasn't sure what Klaus was looking for or what he was seeing, but he tried to show how earnest and sincere he was. He tried to show how much he wanted Klaus to listen to him, to accept his help. Sam knew he only had the smallest fraction of Klaus's story, knew that there were traumas hidden behind those ancient eyes that Sam couldn't even guess at. He didn't feel right sending Klaus back home. He didn't feel right thinking about that man (Reginald Hargrove or something, right? Something like that) standing over Klaus when Klaus walked back inside at almost midnight.

In the end, though, Klaus gave him one more soft smile before saying, "I'm going to head home now."

Sam sighed, shoulders slumping. He pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of his pockets, scribbling an address, an email, and a phone number on it. He handed the paper to Klaus, expression as serious as he could make it, "If you need help, you come to me, alright? I promise I will help you. And if you can't reach me through any of these means, then go to the Avengers Tower. Tell them that you won't leave without talking to me. Make a scene if you have to. I'll make sure you're taken care of until I can come help, okay?"

"Okay," Klaus agreed quietly. Sam watched with sullen despair as the hopeful light that had been flickering in Klaus's eyes sputtered and died.

Sam closed his eyes before mustering up as much of a smile as he could produce after that sight, "Come on, why don't I fly you home? I promise you'll like it. Nothing in this world is better than flying."

"Okay," Klaus said quietly. Sam despaired at the sound.

Pulling his emotions in and hating that he couldn't do anything else, Sam grabbed Klaus and attached a simple harness to him before tilting sideways off the side of the bridge. Klaus made a small gasping noise before laughing breathlessly. Sam's lips tipped up at the sound, straightening out and heading towards the address that Klaus told him over the wind.

As they flew, Sam made a promise to himself. He might not be able to abscond with Klaus at this moment without it being kidnapping, but he wouldn't let that stop him from helping. The first thing the next day, he was going to talk to the highest authority he could and report Klaus's father for negligence, child endangerment, and abuse. It was a calculated risk. Sam knew that there was a potential for this to go absolutely nowhere and simply make things worse like what had happened before. But if there was a chance that this would work out and Klaus could escape this situation and get help? Then Sam was going to take it. He had to. He _had_ to.

Sam's breath shuddered when he finally let Klaus down on the stairs going into his house. The home was a monstrosity with an imposing front. Klaus looked completely out of place in his clubbing outfit, hair mussed, and makeup smudged. He looked up at the house as if it were going to come alive and eat him. Sam's heart clenched again. He tried one last time, "We can still leave, Klaus. You don't have to do this. I _promise_."

Klaus smiled at him, small and so sad that Sam felt tears well up in his own eyes, "It's okay, Sam. It's just my lot in life."

He swept into the house before Sam could say anything else, the door closing behind him with a finality that almost sent Sam crashing to his knees. For a long moment, he stood there, listening. He couldn't hear anything, though.

With a sigh, Sam closed his eyes and turned away, trudging away from the house and towards the Tower. He would fly back. Just… not now. Not when he felt like that. The freedom of flying didn't feel right after watching Klaus walk himself back into the place that had led him to almost taking his own life.

Yeah. He probably wouldn't be flying at all that night.

When Sam reached the corner, he sent one last look at the hulking monstrosity of a house. He knew Klaus couldn't hear him, but he still spoke to him one last time, "I'm going to get you help, kid. No matter what. If it's the last thing I do. You _don't_ deserve this. I promise you that. Just – just hold on. I'll save you." He turned and walked away.

(After a screaming match and a promise of the mausoleum in his future, Klaus flopped onto his bed and just _shook_. A chill passed through his shoulder, indicating that Ben had just tried to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. When Klaus rolled to look over at him, Ben smiled reassuringly and repeated the words that Sam had said on that street corner. Klaus cried, but he also smiled. He didn't believe Sam, but… maybe it was alright to hope. Just this once.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, you can thank snarkymuch for the idea for this chapter and KateSamantha for giving me the push to actually write it. Just pretend, for this story, that Vanya's (justified) meltdown happened when the Umbrella Academy people were, like, 25 and that they stopped the apocalypse by communicating and not keeping their sister locked in a cell in their basement. That way I can write this without continuity issues complicating things :P

Sam hopped off the bike as soon as it came to a stop. He took a few steps to get his balance before he glanced behind him and angled his head towards the building in a silent question. He didn't really know why he bothered anymore. Steve never came into the building, no matter how many times Sam asked.

This time, Steve stared up at the building, staring intently at the 'Veterans of Foreign Wars' sign hanging proudly above the door. He waited for a long, long moment before he gave Sam a terse smile and started the motorcycle back up again. Sam smiled back, tipping a sloppy salute at Steve as the man drove away. One of these days. One of these days, Sam was going to finally convince Steve to go in there and make some friends who knew what he was going through.

Well, it was probably better that Steve hadn't come this time, Sam mused. He would have had to abandon him at the bar since he was here to meet with someone this time. Sam grinned and waved when he saw Michael nursing a water in the back corner of the bar. Michael waved back before flagging a waitress down.

Sam and the waitress made it to the table at the same time. She smiled sweetly at Sam and asked, "What'll you be having?" Sam almost asked for a beer, but he remembered Michael warning him that the vet Sam was here to talk to had a problem with alcohol and stuff so he asked for a water. The waitress nodded and headed off, coming back moments later with a pitcher and a glass.

When the waitress left, Sam leaned forward on one elbow, "How are you doing, Michael?"

"Just fine," the man answered gruffly, "Worried about the kid, though. He's not doing so great."

"Tell me a little more about him," Sam requested. All he knew was that Michael knew of a kid who recently returned from overseas and was taking the return hard. He hadn't gone into much more detail, knowing that would be enough to get Sam to come help.

Michael sighed, "I honestly think you'll understand best if you meet him. Not sure there's really a way to explain the kid properly. Just – just give him a chance, okay? I know he's not – normal or, or what anyone would expect. But he needs help as much as any other vet."

"Okay," Sam said carefully, "You know I'll give everyone a chance. You went to some of my meetings. You know I don't judge."

"I know," Michael sighed, "I really don't know how to explain why I'm nervous without you meeting him." He opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by the chime of the bell on the front door. His head swung up and his lips fell into a soft smile that Sam had never seen before. Michael lifted a hand and flagged down the new arrival and the waitress in one go.

Sam didn't even get a chance to turn around before someone was flouncing into the chair and saying, "Well _hello_ there, Lily! You're looking stunning as always. Could I have a lemonade pretty please? Ooh! A pink one if you can!"

"Of course, Klaus," the waitress – apparently Lily – said, heading off towards the back.

Sam wasn't paying attention to her, though. No, his eyes were caught on the thin figure next to him. It _was_ Klaus. Klaus Hargreeves, the Séance. Sam hadn't seen as much of the kid as he'd wanted to in the last eight years. There had only been a few run-ins on the streets, two times where Klaus had drunkenly stumbled to Sam's apartment, and one memorable occasion where someone found Sam's number on Klaus and had called Sam for one of Klaus's overdoses. It had been almost two years since the last time Sam had seen the kid, though. He looked different. It wasn't necessarily worse, but, well, it was hard to get worse with Klaus. There was only the thinnest layer of eyeliner completely circling his eyes, but they highlighted the bags hanging underneath them. At least there wasn't the tell-tale bloodshot look indicating that Klaus was high again.

He was paler than ever before with a gauntness that made Sam feel ill to think of. But there was a layer of muscles that hadn't been there before. Klaus had always been wiry, but this was a lot more than just wiry. Klaus was wearing cream-colored boots laced all the way to his knees over army green leggings. There was a pale pink tank top layered over the leggings and a battered army jacket with the sleeves ripped off over that. Sam jolted when he saw the dog tags, though. Somehow, despite knowing that he was here to talk to a vet having a rough time, he hadn't made the connection between Klaus and the veteran he was here for. How… how did this happen? Sam's brows drew together in confusion when he noticed the tattoo on Klaus's shoulder. It was the same one that Michael wore with pride. What was going on?

Klaus didn't even turn to see Sam until his lemonade had been provided. It was almost comedic the way he took a sip of the lemonade just to choke it back out the second he saw Sam. Klaus coughed out a surprised, " _Sam_?"

"Hey Klaus," Sam smiled as best as he could through the confusion. The last time he'd seen Klaus, there hadn't been any sort of indication that the kid wanted to go into the military. How had he ended up there? And what was with the tattoo? Sam had thought that it was just for the members of Michael's platoon back in Vietnam. Maybe they gave the tattoo to young soldiers who they felt deserved it?

Michael raised an eyebrow at the two of them, "You guys have met?"

"Oh, sure, sure," Klaus said, waving a hand magnanimously, gestures wide and open, "Sam saved my life once! He's so nice, isn't he? But you didn't tell me we were meeting anyone! Did you try to trick me, Mikey?"

Michael rolled his eyes, "Of course I did, brat. You wouldn't have come otherwise." Klaus grinned up at him, unrepentant. Sam frowned slightly when he saw that Klaus's hands were shaking, the ice rattling in his glass.

Sam gave Klaus an unsure smile, "How are you doing, man? I haven't seen you in two years. How's Ben doing?"

"Ben's doing _great_ ," Klaus sighed happily, "Did you know I can make him visible now? Oh, not for long and I'm still working on the consistency of making him visible _and_ corporeal, but I can do it! The fam got all emotional when they saw him for the first time. Saps."

Sam snuck Michael a discrete look. Normally, Klaus didn't like talking about his powers in front of other people. It just made both of them uncomfortable. But apparently, Michael already knew about it and was comfortable enough with it that Klaus felt fine mentioning it in his presence. When Michael glanced placidly over at Sam, he sent him a look of thanks. Michael nodded in response. Sam turned back to Klaus, "I notice you didn't answer my first question."

Klaus threw his hands in the air (every time he stretched out any of his long limbs, Sam felt a little bit like he was watching a snake stretch to its full length), almost sending his drink flying, "I'm sober!"

Sam blinked in shock, "Seriously?"

"Yep!" Klaus cheered, "Went cold turkey which, 0/10 do _not_ recommend. But I did it! I was mostly sober – weed and normally cigarettes don't count, right? – for, like, _ten months_ and then I took, well, a lot of pills actually. But! Then I realized that I wanted to be sober! So, I got sober and cleared out all of my stashes!"

"I'm really proud of you, man," Sam said sincerely, squeezing Klaus's nearest forearm to show how proud he really was (Klaus, recovering from an overdose and still coming down from a bad high, had confessed to him once that there was nothing he loved more than human contact, that having an uncaring father, a robot mother, disinterested siblings, and ghosts that couldn't touch him made it so almost no one just casually touched him and he ached at the loss). Klaus's smile became a little less forced, a little more real, at Sam's words. It was a constant back and forth for Sam. Klaus was almost always smiling. The challenge was trying to make it a genuine smile. Sam patted his arm again before pulling away, "What inspired you to get clean?"

The smile twitched on Klaus's face and he looked over at Michael as if for advice. Michael dragged Klaus over to him by the neck, putting their foreheads together and saying fiercely, "You need to talk to him, Stretch. You need to talk to _someone_ who isn't one of your idiotic siblings or an old vet who can't be there all the time. Alright?"

"Alright, Mikey," Klaus said as he extracted himself from Michael. He glanced at Sam shyly, "It's kind of a long story."

"I've got nowhere to be," Sam said easily, leaning back in his chair to prove his point.

Klaus glanced between Michael and Sam a few more times before he hesitantly started talking. He gained traction quickly, words spiraling into long-winded rants and big, wide gestures. Sam had to really work to keep up with the words. Especially since they were so unbelievable.

Sam was pretty sure that Klaus wasn't telling the story in order, or at least in completeness, since the story started with Klaus _in Vietnam_. Sam got stuck on that for a long moment because _what_ but then he registered that Klaus was rambling on and on about some cute guy named Dave who was apparently beautiful and kind and sweet and perfect and the absolute best _ever_. Sam smiled slightly as Klaus continued to gush about the guy. He was glad that Klaus had found someone real even if he had to go back to 1968 (again, _what_ ) to do it. His smile slipped as Klaus started talking about the war itself, how people were dropping like flies. He breezed over the ghosts he must have seen, and he breezed over the things he must have done but Sam let it slide. This was just the first meeting. There'd be time to unpack the rest later after Sam had gotten the full story.

Sam's smile disappeared completely when Klaus folded into himself and admitted to watching Dave die, to holding Dave's cooling body, to _breaking_ in that moment. Sam's heart stuttered in his chest at the words. He didn't know what he was expecting. Klaus looked like a wreck, so it was clear that things with Dave didn't work out. Sam had just been so caught up in the way Klaus waxed lyrical about the man that he hadn't even considered the ramifications.

After a moment, Klaus's words petered off to nothing. Sam could see that Klaus was back in that moment, holding his dead lover in his arms. It wasn't a flashback, but it wasn't good, either. They both startled when Michael sat back down at the table. Sam hadn't even seen him get up. Michael slid a picture across the table to Sam, "That's Dave next to Klaus. The two were attached at the hip. Their relationship was the unit's worst kept secret. We all knew they were together but at the time you couldn't really talk about it." His eyes were daring Sam to protest, to bring up his confusion.

Sam wouldn't do that, though. He might be completely lost on how on _earth_ Klaus had ended up in Vietnam for what sounded like 10 months, but he believed Klaus completely, even without the picture. The things Klaus talked about were too real, too emotional for Sam to think they were anything but true. The look in Klaus's eyes cemented it. Those were the eyes of someone who had just made it back from war. Klaus didn't give a timeline, but Sam would bet that Klaus hadn't been back for more than a month. There was no way to fake that look. Besides, the only lie Klaus had ever told Sam was that he was fine.

Still, Sam glanced at the picture. His heart melted at the bright grin on Klaus's face, at the arm wrapped around Dave. Despite how few times Sam had seen Klaus, he'd seen a lot of sides to the kid. He'd _never_ seen the kid look _that_ honestly happy. The love was radiating between the two. Sam touched the picture with the tips of his fingers. Klaus was staring at him with something worried and delicate in his eyes. Sam smiled reassuringly at him, "You look happy. Really happy."

"I was," Klaus breathed out, touching the edge of the picture with his own fingers, "Not just because of Dave, either. The whole group. They were family."

"How many are left?" Sam asked quietly.

"Four, including Klaus," Michael answered just as quietly, "We're based here. Charlie's out in Seattle. Kenny's down in Florida. Lucky bugger."

Klaus laughed softly, eyes still glued to the picture of Dave's face, "I like it here better. I like the cold."

Carefully, Sam put a hand over Klaus's, "I'm proud of you, buddy. I'm proud of you for getting sober, for having a good reason, for holding up as well as you have. Is Dave the reason you're staying sober even now?"

"Yeah," Klaus breathed. He blinked away a few tears, "Yeah, but probably not in the way you're thinking. I'm – I'm not staying sober because he would have wanted to. I mean, of course, he would have wanted to. He's perfect like that. But, um, I – I want to see him again. I _need_ to see him again. I haven't been able to summon him yet but I'm going to. And I need to be sober to do that. I _have_ to see him."

"Don't get obsessed," Michael warned, lips turning down.

"I know, I know!" Klaus grumbled, "Ben keeps telling me that, too. It's fine, though. I'm fine."

"Oh boy," Sam teased, "No one who's really fine says that they're fine." Klaus stuck his tongue out at him. Sam smiled gently at him, "C'mon man. You know me. This is what I do for a living. Well, I did it for a living. It's part-time now. But I'm still good at it. I'm real good at it. Talk to me, kid. I'll tell you the same thing I've been telling you since you were 17: if you let me, I _will_ help you. I promise you that." Michael stared at Klaus as well, adding the weight of his trust and determination to Sam's words. This wouldn't be like the first time Sam and Klaus met. Or the second or the third or the sixth. This time, Sam wasn't going to let Klaus walk away alone. Never again.

For a long moment, the three of them sat in silence, sipping their drinks, and giving Klaus the chance to consider. Sam needed Klaus to say yes to this. He needed Klaus to finally accept his help.

Klaus snuck one last look up at Sam through his eyelashes. Sam stayed patiently still through Klaus's observation.

Then, finally, _finally_ , Klaus smiled at Sam and said, "Okay. I'll let you help me."


	3. Chapter 3

Sam glanced over at his phone when it started buzzing against his thigh. He'd hidden it on top of his thigh as soon as the meeting started. Sure, PR stuff was important and, honestly, Sam was willing to do anything to lessen the amount of stress poor Pepper had to deal with, but it was _boring_. If staying sane meant sneaking a few moments of gaming during the meeting, then who could blame him? Certainly not Bruce who was completely asleep in his chair. Besides, Sam was clearly one of the people who needed the least amount of damage control with his image.

The phone buzzed again, and Sam made sure to actually read the caller's name that time. It was… Klaus? Weird. He didn't normally call. Klaus preferred texting. Well, he preferred talking in person which they did fairly often now that Klaus was living halfway out of his old house and halfway out of Sam's flat. The phone buzzed. Sam frowned; the only reason Klaus would be this insistent on calling and not just texting was if this was an emergency. Lips pursed, Sam started to carefully slide out of his chair, hoping to cause the least amount of distraction.

Unfortunately, Pepper was terrifying, and her gaze locked onto him in a split second, "Where are you going?"

Sam grimaced, "Phone call." She didn't let up on his glare so he tried, "It might be an emergency?"

"No one is to leave this room until everyone is sorted," Pepper said firmly, "You all promised that at the beginning of this meeting. Because I know all of you and I know that if I even so much as open the door a crack, you'll all be gone with 'important things to do' and I'm _not_ letting you get away again. This needs to be dealt with!"

Sam winced, "I know, I know, but this is one of my vets. Come on, Pep. He doesn't normally call unless it's important."

Pepper narrowed her eyes for a moment before she finally relented, "You can answer the phone, but you do it _here_. No. Leaving."

Lips quirking up a little at her determination, Sam pressed answer and put the phone to his ear, "Hey man, what's up?"

" _Sam! Sam, I have excellent news! Where are you? You need to come to my house immediately! No, shut up Ben. He needs to come_ immediately _. You're clingy!_ " Klaus shouted, words quickly devolving into a whispered argument with Ben.

Sam raised his eyebrows, "Klaus, buddy. I need you to stop arguing with Ben. What's going on? Are you alright?"

" _I'm better than alright!_ " Klaus cried. Sam could almost see the manic grin on his face. Sam's eyebrows drew together, a little worried at the behavior. As if he could read Sam's mind, Klaus added, " _Ben says to tell you that I promise the only drug I'm on right now is happiness._ "

"Is that a new street name for a drug or are you really clean?" Sam asked sardonically. He knew that Klaus knew that he was just joking otherwise he would have never risked the sarcasm. At the beginning of Klaus's healing, Sam hadn't been allowed to joke about stuff like that. Klaus's siblings accused him of slipping back into old habits often enough that when Sam said it, it had felt just like another accusation.

Klaus laughed, delighted, " _I'm really clean. Which is why you really need to come to my house_ right now _._ "

"Here, let me ask if I can. I'm in the middle of a meeting right now," Sam said, ignoring the sounds of Klaus and Ben getting into another argument (and, maybe, a scuffle from the sounds coming from the phone). Sam gave Pepper an apologetic look, "He says that I need to go over to his place right away."

"He didn't sound upset," Pepper said slowly. It was clear she wanted to be able to let him go but didn't trust her ability to keep the rest of them if she let Sam go.

Sam shrugged, "I don't really know what's up, but it's important to him. Even if it's a good thing, he needs the affirmation that someone cares about his accomplishments."

Pepper sighed, "Fine! Fine. You're not the one this meeting is for anyways."

Sam smirked again, hearing the groans of the others as they realized that Sam was going to get out of this and they weren't. As least Natasha and Wanda seemed amused at the interruption. Sam turned back to the phone, "Hey, Klaus? I'm good to go. I'll start heading over now. I should be there in about 20 minutes."

" _Awesome!_ " Klaus chirped before hanging up.

"Alright, I'm out," Sam said, standing up and slipping his phone in his pocket.

"I hate you," Clint asked, slouching in his seat. The others groaned dramatically as Sam stretched and headed towards the door. Pepper looked like she was one noise away from murder.

When Sam got in the car, Happy asked for the address. Sam winced and admitted, "The Hargreeves mansion."

"The place where all those Umbrella Academy brats live?" Happy asked incredulously.

"That's the one," Sam sighed.

Happy snorted and started driving, "How long have you been working with them? You know half of the others hate them. Tony's always complaining about how they're just obnoxious kids who can't keep their life together."

"I haven't been working with them," Sam explained, "Not like that. One of them is a vet. I've been helping him out since he had a tough time coming back stateside. Probably because time travel and assassins were involved."

"I don't want to know," Happy announced flatly. Sam grinned. Happy's determination to pretend that the world they lived in was still normal was one of Sam's favorite things about him.

Happy turned an incredulous stare onto Sam the moment they stopped in front of the Hargreeves mansion. He ignored it in favor of exiting the car and starting up the steps. Happy didn't get a chance to say anything before there was a flash of blue light at the top of the stairs. Sam blinked in shock at the sight of Five glaring down at him, sipping a margarita through a curly straw.

No matter how many times Sam ran into the other Hargreeves siblings, they still weirded him out. Five was definitely one of the odder ones, even if he had taken to sitting in on some of Klaus's open healing sessions. Klaus had admitted that he'd seen Five privately doing some of the exercises that Sam recommended. It was that knowledge that gave Sam the mental fortitude to raise a hand and say, "Hey, Five. How's it going?"

"What are you doing here?" Five demanded, narrowing his eyes at Sam.

"Klaus called. He has something to show me," Sam answered, "He seemed pretty excited, but I was in a meeting, so, well, I had Happy drive me."

"Hm," Five responded. After a moment of truly awkward silence where he and Happy stared intensely at each other, he looked back towards Sam, "That must be why he's making so much noise. He was shrieking about something earlier." He paused for one more moment before announcing, "I'm coming with you," and dramatically turning on his heel and stalking into the building.

Confident only because he knew Five couldn't see him, Sam rolled his eyes at the kid's melodrama. The vast, vast majority of the time, Five was the only one in the family with half a brain cell but he was also the definition of cantankerous.

Silently, the two of them trudged upstairs. And then further upstairs. And then further. Sam would never not be horrified by the size of the house. Finally, they made it to the attic area. The door opened by itself, almost smacking Five in the face. Five growled at Klaus but Klaus just snickered, "Sorry! I misjudged it!"

"You need to stop opening doors with your telekinesis. It's obnoxious," Five grumbled, finding himself a seat and then lounging back in it. Klaus just beamed at him. Sam had been working with Klaus on his powers and the kid had come pretty far. They'd discovered that he could do a lot with making the ghosts corporeal. They'd also found the levitation and the telekinesis.

"Hey Klaus," Sam smiled, drawing Klaus in for a hug which was enthusiastically returned.

Klaus grinned at him, fingers worrying each other for a moment before he waved the one that said 'hello' on it at Sam, "Welcome to my humble abode, dear Sam!"

"What did you want to show him?" Five interrupted, glaring around the room like he could figure it out just from that.

Klaus's grin turned softer, quiet and personal and intimate in a way Klaus didn't normally allow others to see. He looked right at Sam as he said, "I wanted to introduce you to someone." He didn't say anything else after that, instead closing his eyes and making two fists in front of him. He slowly turned the fists, blue light engulfing them. Five made an inquiring noise behind Sam.

But Sam's eyes were on only one thing. Standing next to Klaus, expression lovestruck and oh so very proud, was Dave Katz.

Sam's jaw dropped at the sight even as Klaus clasped hands with Dave and started swinging them back and forth. He grinned at Sam, a smile brighter than the sun on his face, "Sam, Five, meet the most perfect man ever to exist, Dave Katz. Dave, meet my wonderful friend Sam and my brother Five!"

Sam almost didn't collect himself in time but thankfully he was able to stutter out, "Nice to meet you, man," as he reached out a hand for a handshake.

Dave shook his hand with a grin that almost rivaled Klaus's, "Nice to meet you, too. Klaus has told me a lot about you. Some while we were waiting but some back in 'Nam, too. I just – I know this is a little heavy for the first time we met, but I have to thank you, sir, for saving Klaus. If you hadn't saved him and if I had never met him… nothing would have been worth it."

By that point, Klaus had turned a soft, dopey expression onto Dave. Sam felt tears prick his eyes at the looks the two exchanged. Sam had never believed in soulmates or predestined lovers. But in that moment, he felt like if he reached out between the two of them, there would be a passionate red ribbon tying them together, dragging them closer with every breath. The looks that the two of them gave each other told Sam that there would never and could never be another for them. They were made for each other in a way Sam wasn't sure he would ever understand.

The moment was broken when Five said imperiously, "Nice to meet you, Dave. If you hurt Klaus ever for any reason, I will find out about it. It doesn't matter if I can't see you or hear you. _I will know_. And I will make sure _you_ hurt."

"Aw!" Klaus squealed, "Old man Five _does_ care!"

Dave was staring levelly at Five though. He straightened to attention and nodded down at Five, "Yes sir!"

A new voice broke the moment, "Now for the next phase!"

Sam smiled at Ben, trying to not smirk at the way Five's entire being softened at the blue glowing figure of his brother as he said, "Hey Ben."

"Hey, Five," Ben responded happily.

"What phase?" Klaus asked, glancing between Ben and the others curiously. Ben smirked but didn't say anything. Klaus turned to Dave, "Daveeee! What phase?"

Ben passed something smoothly to Dave before he came to stand over by Sam and Five. Sam raised an eyebrow at Ben, but Ben wouldn't say anything, content to simply stand there and smirk. Sam turned the eyebrow on Klaus, but his eyes were fully focused on Dave.

Dave took in a deep breath, "This phase." With that, he fell gracefully to one knee, pulling out a ring box. Klaus put his hands to his face, eyes so wide Sam was worried they were going to fall out. Not that Sam was much better. His heart might just burst from how wholesome the scene in front of him was.

Dave looked up at Klaus, "Klaus Hargreeves. I know that I'm dead and you, well, can't quite seem to die, but we have this. We can see each other and touch each other and be with each other. Forever. Even after everything that happened. And, well, I'm always going to _want_ to be with you. No matter what. You are my everything, Klaus. My love for you will always eclipse everything else. And, well, you know me. I'm old-fashioned. So, I had to ask. I _had_ to. Klaus Hargreeves, will you marry me?"

Klaus was crying by the time Dave was done. He sobbed out the word, "Yes! Yes, yes, yes," on repeat, dropping to his own knees to drag Dave into a crushing hug.

Sam felt somewhat like he was intruding on something special with the way Five and Ben were quietly trying to wipe away their own tears. But… in an odd way, Sam needed this. For eight, almost nine years, Sam had been haunted by the memory of a scrawny kid trying to jump off a bridge at 17 years old. Seeing this? Seeing that kid happy and bright in his home – the place that had caused him so much trouble when he was younger? Seeing that kid finally have enough meat on his bones to be considered healthy, wearing a dress without any concern about people's comments? Seeing that kid being proposed to by the love of their life? That healed something in Sam, something that had been stuck up on that bridge with Klaus for almost nine years now.

Over Dave's shoulder, Klaus's eyes met Sam's. Silently, tears of happiness still streaming down his bright face, Klaus mouthed the words, "Thank you."

Sam mouthed back, "Anytime. Always."

Klaus looked at him for a long moment before whispering, "I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for Ion who said that I couldn't write something like this and leave it with a bittersweet ending :P This chapter is the last one. For real this time! If you want to see something else, you are more than welcome to write it as long as you reference the original fic. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I know I haven't written in a while so this isn't exactly the quality piece I would have liked it to be but I hope you enjoyed it! Please pretend that the Umbrella Academy operates out of NYC since the show itself doesn't have an actual location for their city. Also, if I counted correctly (which I probably didn't), then the Umbrella Academy debuted maybe a year or two before Iron Man did.


End file.
